Well, Since We're Already Talking About Knife Sharpening

[el_matt]

I have an Worksharp Ken Onion. I love it. It has been the best sharpener I've ever owned. I'm not saying it is the best on the market, just the best I've used.

Being that the KO has a range of angles, 15°-30°, what are your angle preferences? I'm only curious about kitchen knives. I've done a little research, but it is all over the place. Some suggest acute, others suggest obtuse. I'm thinking about 17.5°, for my 8" Chef's knife. It is the one my wife and I use the most. We only use wood or plastic cutting boards.

Matt

 

[cholloway]

Lawn mower blades are cut at 30°.

I'm just sayin'.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Just got the KO Mk2.
20 degrees for kitchen knives and 25 for pocket and hunting knives.
Makes for super sharp cutlery. Good enough for me.

 

[bowhnter]

I changed a couple of my kitchen knives to 17.5. One of those I may change to 15.

 

[AussieMatt]

It depends on the knife.

My Wustofs should be 14° but I do them at 15° because that's as low as the KO can go.

 

[PitRow]

Depends on the knife for sure. Most of my kitchen stuff is around 22 I think, I'd have to go look at the Wicked Edge to be sure. Fillet knives I do a shallower angle, around 17 I think. Pocket knives get around 28, except when I want a mirror edge then I do a micro bevel with the main mirrored edge at about 25 and a courser micro bevel at 28. Or something like that.

 

[thirdeye]

Many years ago I got a used Edge-Pro system that was a salesman's sample, not really for a trade show demonstration but sometimes for display. That system made me re-think smaller angles on kitchen knives because I didn't worry about having a durable edge, and could focus on a scary sharp edge. I still use this system on some of my fillet knives and some pocket knives.

That said, the Work Sharp KO is so easy to set up and once you figure out the stroke and draw speed... re-touching is super easy. So on my working knives, I use the KO system and my favorite angles are:

Cimeter - 19°
Chef's knives and Butcher knives - 17°
Slicing, boning and steak knives - 17°
Paring and most fillet knives - 15°
Chinese style cleaver - 15°

 

[buckhorn_cortez]

I use a Tormek with a CBN 1000 wheel for sharpening. I use the Tormek leather wheel to remove the burr and then strop on a leather strop with 1-micron diamond spray. Kitchen knives get sharpened at 20 degrees. Cleavers get sharpened at 24 degrees. Hunting knives and utility knives get sharpened at 24 degrees. I use a BESS sharpness tester and can get most kitchen knives to under BESS 100.

 

[bschoen]

^^^ Some people are just a bit more serious than others.

What else do you sharpen on that Tormek?